


not under my heart, but in it

by CyrusBreeze



Series: The Other 51 [8]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Adoption, F/M, Foster Care, Gen, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-07 03:39:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14072088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyrusBreeze/pseuds/CyrusBreeze
Summary: Not flesh of my fleshNor bone of my bone,But still miraculously my own.Never forget for a single minute,You didn't grow under my heartBut in it.-Adoption CreedIt takes two years, months of paperwork, and several short term placements, but Natasha and Bruce build their family: brick by brick.





	not under my heart, but in it

**Author's Note:**

> So, I wrote this in one go and it’s unedited and probably trash. But I hope y’all enjoy. 
> 
> This is my first Other 51 work that’s not Hamilton related. 
> 
> Trigger Warning: general warning for drug use, domestic violence, child abuse and other violent and otherwise horrific situations (not by the main characters).
> 
> Situations like these can be the reality for many foster children in the US and around the world. While some of these situations I’ve used are real, these situations don’t even crack the top five of most horrific foster child cases I’ve seen. It’s heartbreaking. 
> 
> Tread lightly.

It's Bruce who first brings up the idea of emergency foster care. They've been considering adoption for the past year, and foster care has crossed their minds. They began the process: Bruce therapy sessions look promising, and he's proven to be able to control The Other Guy, and Natasha's passed a psychological evaluation and has had her record cleared from any past offended (perks of saving the world from imminent death three times). 

There's very few other obstacles in their way. Natasha now works as a consultant and trainer for SHIELD, and Bruce teaches physics at the local college and is in the process of building a science and mathematics center for underprivileged children with the help of Tony. Their jobs allow for it. They've got a nice amount of money in the bank account and Tony helped the with decorating two kid's rooms and furnishing them with ridiculously expensive play beds and toys. There's also a room for an older child. They have everything they need for kids, but they're terrified. Terrified of becoming attached to a child only to watch them walk away. Terrified of losing kids that they've become close to. And terrified that somehow, someway, they' won't be fit to be parents. 

It's only after Bruce has returned from a visit to his home state of Ohio that he brings up continuing the process, more specifically emergency foster care. His trip home brought back memories, the most vibrant memory being in an emergency foster home when he was nine years old. They were working to place him with his aunt after having just arrested his father and things were progressing incredibly slowly. He remembers the kind young woman who made him cookies and made him feel safe and warm and even slightly happy. He remembers how she bought him actual, real Christmas gifts: a Rubik's cube and a stuffed bear from her and a science kit from Santa. He remembers feeling loved for the first time since his mother died.

Natasha listens to Bruce talk, soothing him as bares the darkest parts of his childhood. She agrees, agrees for temporary and not long term, not yet. Not until they feel that they are ready to handle the pain that comes with losing someone they've become truly attached to. 

They agree, and with shaking hands the call the agency to continue their application. 

-X- 

Declan is their first placement, and Bruce sees so much of himself in the eleven year old boy that at times it's hard to bear. The caseworker tells them two things about him: he doesn't speak (but he can) and he saw his father shoot his mother in the head a week ago. 

It doesn't take a rocket science to know that those two events are related. Declan's mother is still alive, but she's in the hospital recovering from the gunshot. Declan's aunt is supposed to be traveling from Texas to care for him, but it will be another week before she can come to get him. 

Declan writes everything down in a small notebook that his case worker gave him. He's running out of space, and he's constantly writing to express his feelings, wants, and needs. 

Natasha comes home the day after Declan arrives with two notebooks, with more pages than Declan could possibly use in his time at their house. He writes, "THANK YOU!" in all capital letters on the first page of his journal. 

Declan spends several hours of that second day writing. Sometimes he shows it to Natasha or Bruce, mainly to communicate. 

It isn't until his third day with them that he dares to venture outside. It's the last day of a three day weekend, which means Declan will be back at school tomorrow. Declan writes that he is grateful to go back to the school he knows and loves rather than having to switch schools in the middle of the school year. 

He comes home from school crying, but he refuses to write what happened. Instead, he goes outside and sits on one of the swings on their swing set. Swinging back and forth slowly, mouthing words to himself. 

He only comes in when Natasha calls him for dinner, and then he goes back to his room and closes the door quietly. When they walk past his room, they can hear his broken sobs through the door. 

They sit quietly outside of his door, Bruce working on lesson plans and Natasha reading until Declan's sobs begin to subside and they open the door to find him sleeping. 

On his fifth day there, he gets to visit his mother in the hospital. She's hooked up to many tubes and wires, but she's stable and lucid enough to see Declan. He whispers something in her ear at the end of the visit, and Declan's mom smiles, and Declan goes home and cries. 

Natasha and Bruce takes turns comforting him as he cries, holding him close and rubbing his back. 

"You think she'll be okay?" He scribbles in his notebook. 

"The doctors say that she should have a pretty good recovery," Bruce tells him. 

"She's a fighter," Declan says. "We're both fighters. She has to make it." 

Bruce gently runs a hand through Declan's hair. 

Bruce can't make promises to the boy so instead he quietly says, "It's good your mom's a fighter." 

Declan finally stops crying about an hour later and he elects to turn on a rerun of an old cartoon that he loves. Declan laughs quietly at the familiar jokes and it's good to see him smile.

They end up falling asleep on the couch; in the morning,their backs are cramped and they're exhausted, but Declan wakes with a ghost of a smile on his lips. 

On the sixth day, Declan's aunt comes and they pack him up to go stay with her. 

He cries a bit as he prepares to leave. He's clutching his red notebook like a lifeline, but he looks at Natasha and Bruce and, almost inaudibly, says, "Thank you." 

Three months later Natasha receives a Facebook message from someone she doesn't know. 

"Thank you for caring for my son," it reads. The picture below is a picture of Declan smiling with his mother. She looks very healthy, far better than she did in the hospital, and both of their tongues are out against the New York City skyline. 

Natasha shows the picture to Bruce and he cries. 

-X-

Their second placement is a three year old named Peyton. She's tiny and perfect and absolutely wonderful. 

She talks and talks and talks about everything. She talks about how she had to pee in a cup to make sure that her mommy didn't get in trouble. She talks about how she's got older brother and sisters who live with their daddies but she doesn't live with her daddy because is a deadbeat asshole. When Natasha tells Peyton not to use those words, Peyton explains to her that that is what her mom told her was her dad's name. 

She talks about how much she loves her new bed, and how much she loves her new daycare and how much she loves her new friends. And she's only there for four days, four days before one of her sibling's grandparent agrees to take her in.

And when she leaves, Natasha and Bruce miss the sound of Peyton's voice. 

-X- 

Alex comes next. He 12 and has special needs. He's mildly autistic and has severe anxiety and the state is currently working on finding him placement in a residential treatment center. However, the work is slow and tedious. 

Adjusting to life with Alex is different. He is is prone to outbursts and meltdowns, but he's also sweet and loving. He gives hugs and he craves the pressure that comforting hands give him. 

He needs guidance for most of his activities, from getting ready in the morning to remembering to shower. He slowly l adjusts to having them around, learning and growing and loving school and just being a teenager. 

Alex is the longest placement that they have. He's there for one week, and then two, and then three, and then he's gone. 

-X- 

It's a Friday night when they receive the call that changes everything. 

Natasha has just gotten off work, late, per usual. It's nearly nine pm and they're dining on take out in their pajamas, making small talk about their respective. Bruce is complaining about the freshman class that he's assisting with while the professor is on maternity leave. It seems that several of the college students are having issues with plagiarism. Then he had to deal with a meeting with the dean regarding vacation time that ran unnecessarily long. 

It seems that both of their were quite similar. Natasha had to deal with new recruits who whined and complained about her techniques and discipline style (one that Natasha didn't even believe was that harsh.) Then she had to sit in a consultation meeting that was four and half hours long, in which they got one thing done, and that thing was done within the first twenty minutes. 

They're both relaxing into each other. Natasha's feet are resting on Bruce's lap, and Bruce's shoulders are slumped with exhaustion, but he's absentmindedly rubbing Natasha's bare feet. 

Bruce's phone buzzes on the table, and they both reach for it. 

"Hello," Bruce says as he answers the call. He puts it on speaker. It's DCFS. Of course it is. 

"We were wondering if you do an emergency placement for a seven year old boy with behavioral issues," the voice says on the other line. 

Bruce glances up at Natasha. Natasha nods. 

"Yes," Bruce says. "We're willing."

"Thank you," the voice on the other end of the line says. "They should be here within the next half hour." 

In takes more than half an hour. The boy, Toby, comes to them when it's almost midnight. His belongings are stuffed into a black hefty trash bag, and he's carrying a tattered superman plush. The boy is small, even for seven years old. He looks to be biracial, black and white most likely, but Bruce isn't sure. His hair is curly and it falls into his face and his eyes are a muddy brown. 

The boy is crying, even as Bruce guides him to the table and sets him down with a puzzle. Toby immediately shoves the puzzle off of the table. 

"He has some severe behavioral issues," his caseworker, Amaya, explains quietly. "He's in therapy twice a week in order to help him out, but he's a bit of a handful. He's doesn't adjust well to change, and he's not very happy to be moved."

Bruce is calmly picking up the pieces of the puzzle and placing him back into the puzzle box. 

"Would you like to have a rest then, Toby?" Bruce asks. "We can talk in the morning." 

"No!" Toby shouts, kicking his foot forward and shoving the coffee table towards the television set. 

"He's on some medication to help him with sleep," Amaya continues. "He's already had his meds tonight, but you will need to pick some up from the pharmacy tomorrow." Amaya hands Natasha two empty pill bottles with prescription labels.

Bruce stands and places the puzzle box back on the coffee table. 

Toby makes no move to touch or kick it, so Bruce will consider that a success. "How long will placement be?" Bruce asks. 

"It should be about two weeks; we're trying to get him placed with his older siblings, but the home that they are in already has 2 children with special needs," Amaya explains. "And we're not sure that they'll be able to keep him. I would say no longer than a month, but that may change." 

Amaya's phone buzzes, and she picks it up. She speaks on the phone for a moment, and Bruce uses that time to observe Toby. He's sitting with his legs crossed and humming to himself. He hasn't released his grip on the Superman plush, and Bruce wonders if there's a reason behind his emotional attachment to it. 

"I'm sorry," Amaya begins, effectively jolting Bruce from his thoughts. "I have to go to another home. This has been a very, very busy night. Full moons always are, though. I will come by tomorrow with the paperwork that he needs for school." 

"Toby," Amaya says. "I'm leaving." 

Toby doesn't acknowledge her and instead begins to hum louder. 

"Bye, October," Amaya says, using Toby's full name. 

Toby says nothing, but seconds after Amaya shuts the door to the home. 

Toby realizes what had just transpired. "She fucking left me!" He yells. "She just left!" He screams louder.

Natasha crouches on the floor next to him and tries to talk him down, but he continues to scream, his wails getting louder until they feel like they are ear splitting. 

"Toby," Natasha says calmly, trying to get him to listen through his screams. 

"Go away," Toby screams. "Go away from me. I fucking hate you."

Toby continues to scream, even as Natasha moves closer to him and begins to rub his back. He shies away at first, but a moment later he lets her slowly rub his back. 

Bruce sits on the floor next to Toby as well. 

"Toby," Bruce says softly. "Can you take a deep breath for me?" 

Toby takes a deep, slow breath, hiccuping and sobbing as he inhales. He exhales just as slowly. 

"C'mom," Bruce coaxes. "Take another deep breath." 

Toby inhales again, and then very slowly releases a breath. "Ten, nine, eight, seven," Toby counts down, and Bruce recognizes it as a calming mechanism similar to the one that Bruce learned in therapy. "Six, five, four, three, two, one." Toby takes another long, slow breath, and then he quiets. 

Toby doesn't move after that, instead, he drifts to sleep in front of the front door. Natasha and Bruce get blankets and pillows and sleep next to him. 

-X-

The line for enrollment isn't very long, after all it's November and there isn't many students being enrolled in class, but the look of confusion on the secretary's face is utterly obvious when they identify themselves as Toby's guardians. 

It doesn't help any that when Bruce asks Toby to go play, Toby loudly shouts, "Fuck you!" And takes off sprinting down the hall. 

Bruce has to run to catch him, and then he has to carry a kicking and screaming Toby back to the enrollment room. 

"Fuck you," Toby repeats, spitting at Bruce as Bruce sets him down in the small play area. "I hate you."

Bruce sighs, and gently rubs Toby's hair. "I'm sorry to hear that." 

Toby doesn't say anything, but he does pick up a puzzle to do, so Bruce considers that to me progress. 

"Is he yours?" The secretary asks when Bruce returns, something like disgust coloring her voice. The wheels are obviously turning in her head, wondering how two white people can be parenting a boy who is very obviously not white. 

"We're his foster parents," Natasha says with a fake smile. Bruce can hear the shuttle irritation in her voice. 

The woman's face immediately changes. "Oh that's wonderful!" She says, clapping her hands. "It's so great of you to take on a child like him." 

Natasha inhales shapely and then calmly takes the paperwork from the secretary's hand. "We'll let you know when we're done," Natasha says calmly, too calmly. 

"People suck," Bruce whispers as Natasha begins to furiously fill out the paperwork. 

Natasha gives a smile, a real smile, "People suck," she agrees. 

-X- 

As the weeks pass, they settle into a routine. Natasha takes Toby to school. Bruce picks him up. Natasha will help Toby with his reading, history, and language arts homework, and Bruce helps with the science and math. 

Toby still has his outbursts. He still cries and screams and kicks and bites and wakes up in the middle of the night, but he's he also hugs and laughs and cries happy tears and makes jokes. 

Bruce knows that he shouldn't get attached; he knows that this placement is only temporary, he knows that sweet, wonderful Toby will soon be gone, but then he sees Toby's smile while playing on the swing set and every ounce of his resolve melts away. 

-X- 

Natasha receives a phone call a month into Toby's placement. 

It's Toby's caseworker; they talked before, many times before, but Natasha can already tell from the tone of Amaya's voice that this time is different. 

"We haven't found placement," Amaya says. 

Natasha breathes a sigh of relief; they get to keep Toby for a bit longer. 

"And we were wondering if you'd be willing to take Toby for a long term placement," Amaya continues. "Talk it over with your husband, and you can get back to us tomorrow."

Natasha doesn't even have to ask Bruce to know his answer. 

-X- 

After Toby has been with them for sixty days, he has a major, epic meltdown. 

He cries and screams and kicks and hits and bites. Natasha can already feel her eye swelling and darkening from Toby's shoe, and the skin on her arm is broken and bleeding from Toby's teeth.

Bruce isn't home, and Natasha struggles to get a handle on Toby, who kicks, and hard, each and every time she gets closer than five feet to him. 

"Toby," Natasha says quietly. "Toby, what's wrong?" 

Toby kicks Natasha's leg. She winces in pain; she's been hit before, but somehow it feels worse coming from tiny Toby, then an enhanced adult.

"Why are you so nice to me?" Toby asks. 

Natasha swallows. "Because I love you, Toby," she says honestly. 

"I don't want you to love me," Toby says quietly. "Everyone who says they love me always hurts me." 

"Toby," Natasha says. "Toby, Bruce and I would never, ever hurt you. I promise." 

Toby is quiet for a long moment. "Promise?" He asks, his voice small and riddled with fear. He gently stretches out his pinky. 

"On my life," Natasha swears, locking pinkies with Toby. 

Toby lets out a sigh of relief, and then he timidly moves closer to Natasha. "I love you best," he challenges. 

Natasha reaches out to stroke Toby's hair, " I love you best."

-X-

Natasha has never met Toby's older siblings. She's heard stories about then, even more so after that day that Toby finally opened up, but she's only ever seen picture of them. They're twins, aged ten, and they've been separated from Toby since their second placement.

It's three days after Toby's begins talking about his siblings again that Amaya calls with information on supervised visitation with Toby's mother and the twins. 

The kids have been in foster care for a total of eight months, but it's the first visit they've had with their mother because it's the first time she's passed her mandatory drug test. 

Toby is so excited to show his siblings his new clothes. He wears his blue superman shirt and his favorite pair of jeans when his superman light up shoes. 

He goes on and on about Rylee and Ryder and he was bounced in his seat as they arrive at the park. 

"I see them! I see them!" Toby shouts. 

Bruce has to grab Toby's hand to prevent him from sprinting across the parking lot. The second they get to the sidewalk, Toby takes off toward his siblings. 

"Rylee!" He shouts, hugging his sister. She's tall and long and has strawberry blonde hair. They look nothing alike, but their demeanor together is so natural that Natasha is ready to cry. 

"Toby," Ryder shouts, joining in on the hug. He looks similar to Rylee, but his demeanor is completely and totally Toby. 

Amaya is waiting, standing with a woman who is very, obviously pregnant. She's smiling, watching Ryder and Rylee and Toby, and it takes Natasha a moment to realize who the woman is. 

It's Toby's mother. 

"October," the woman calls, using Toby's full name, although Natasha knows that Toby prefers being called Toby above all else. 

"Hi," Toby says shyly. 

There's a prolonged silence, in which Toby's mother rubs her protruding stomach and Natasha feels a pang of jealousy rip through her at thought of a woman who has had all of her other children taken away for her being given another chance, but Natasha knows that she isn't being fair. She knows that it's not fair to judge someone based on what she's learned from a file, but it hurts all the same. 

Toby doesn't say much, but he and his siblings sit with his mother and build sand castles in the sand. Natasha and Bruce sit at a picnic table across from the people they know are Rylee and Ryder's foster parents.

"I'm Mandy," the woman says, smoothing back her pale blonde hair effortlessly. She looks like she's going to get a bad sunburn, despite the fact that it's late fall and the temperatures have dropped into the forties. 

"I'm Natasha," Natasha says with a smile, offering her hand to Mandy. 

"Bruce," Bruce awkwardly grunts out. 

Mandy watches the kids play. "It breaks my heart," Mandy says quietly. "I wish I could've taken October, but and we weren't told that Rylee and Ryder had a brother until after everything had already been established, and we already have another child with severe developmental delays and we weren't sure we could handle all of them." 

A blood curling screams cuts Mandy off and Natasha immediately recognized the scream as Toby. He's clutching his arm and howling. His caseworker bends to help Toby, but Toby pushes her backwards. 

"I want Nat," he howls. 

"Toby," Amaya says slowly. 

"I want Nat!" Toby repeats, louder this time. 

Amaya glances towards Natasha, pleading silently for her to come over. Natasha quickly stands and walks over to where Toby is howling. There's blood on his fingers, which means that he fell pretty hard and his elbow is probably scraped up pretty badly. 

Natasha sits down next to Toby and gently begins to rub his hair. Natasha gently grabs Toby's arm and examines the wound to see if it requires medical attention. It's a pretty bad scrape, and it's bleeding, but it doesn't look like it'll need stitches. 

Amaya comes over with the first aid kit that she keeps in her car, and Natasha gently cleans Toby's arm as he cries onto her shoulder. She presses a band aid onto the wound and then rubs Toby's back. 

By the time that Toby stops crying the visit is almost over, and Natasha tries to pretend that she's not utterly haunted by the hurt and pain in Toby's mother's eyes. 

-X-

They receive a phone call two months, and four supervised visits, later. Toby's baby sister, Truly, was born addicted to codeine and heroin, and they want to know if Natasha and Bruce will be able to take her from the hospital. 

It's an immediate yes on both of their parts, and October agrees that he would like to live with his brand new baby sister. 

She's in the NICU still when they arrive at the hospital. Her fragile body is hooked up to several wires, and a nurse is holding and rocking her. 

"These are Truly's foster parents," Amaya explains to the nurse.

The nurse smiles widely. "Truly is such a precious little one," she says. "You are very lucky to have her."

Bruce smiles. "She's absolutely gorgeous." 

"Would you like to hold her?" The nurse asks. "She's been struggling a lot so she could use the extra snuggles. I'm Casey, by the way," she says with a smile. Casey instructs them to sanitize their hands, despite them having washed their hands when they entered the NICU. 

Casey hands Truly to Bruce and from the moment Bruce cradles Truly on his hands, Natasha knows that she is in love with both of them. 

-X-

They carry Truly around everywhere.

Natasha takes advantage of the 3 months of maternity leave that SHIELD offers their consultants and she and Bruce work on adjusting Truly to a schedule. A schedule that involves baby wearing and skin to skin contact and lots and lots of love. 

They're concerned about Truly's brain development. The amount of cocaine in her system caused a stroke when she was three days old, but she's been doing well since then. 

The hardest transition is sleeping. Toby still wakes a minimum of two times during the night, and Truly is up every two hours life clockwork. However, they're never up at the same time, and sometimes the screaming from own child will manage to wake up the other. It's hard, and stressful, and so exhausting that there are times when Natasha can hardly keep her eyes open during the day. But she loves these kids so much, and she's willing to do anything for them. Anything. 

-X-

She receives a phone call on the last day of maternity leave, as it seems that every major change in her life is not characterized by phone calls: Ryder and Rylee's foster parents have to return to their home state in order to tend to a major family emergency, and they have no idea how long they will be home for or if they will return.

Ryder and Rylee are brought to their home less than a week after the initial phone call and both kids immediately gravitate toward the siblings that they have seen in months, or, in Truly's case, ever. 

It's heartbreaking. 

-X-

They settle into a new schedule, Natasha takes an additional three months off in order to get Ryder and Rylee adjusted. 

There's even less sleep, but Natasha has come to expect it by now. Ryder has severe night terrors. He howls and screams and even the doctor prescribed medication can't seem to make the hallucinations get out of head. 

Rylee cries a lot at night, and she hates being separated from her brothers. 

Their nights become a flurry of activity: family sleepovers on school nights in order to ease stress and anxiety, lots of checking for monsters under beds, and lots of playing in order to encourage restful sleep. It works, it's exhausting and stressful, but it works. The entire family manages six to eight hours of sleep a night, and the kids are improving in school because of it. 

Ryder still struggles with outbursts, and Toby feeds off of it and it's hell for the first two weeks, but it gets better.Eventually, it gets better. 

-X- 

It becomes evident in the beginning of the Twins' stay that Ryder is the protector. 

He is checking on his siblings all of the time, every fifteen minutes when they're doing homework, every five minutes when they're playing outside, and every ten minutes when they're playing inside the house and Ryder is away from them. He hides Toby's eyes when there's a scary part in the movie. He's the first on the scene whenever Rylee, Truly, or Toby makes so much as a screech of pain. Natasha and Bruce have even caught him sleeping in Truly's crib in order to comfort her. 

It takes them a long time to convince him that he's safe in their house. He's been so strong for so long that he's finding it impossible to just be a kid. 

He loves the swing set though. Bruce chooses to approach him while he's there the other kids are out with Natasha, so it's just Ryder and Bruce. 

"Hey," Bruce says, settling himself on the swing next to Ryder. Ryder offers a small smile. "How are you doing?" Bruce asks. 

Ryder shrugs. "I'm tired," he says. "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night because I had a nightmare."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Bruce asks. 

Ryder shrugs again. "It was about when my dad died. He was mad at me because I didn't do enough to help my siblings."

"You are doing a fantastic job of helping with your siblings," Bruce says, rocking back and forth on the swing. "Your dad would be proud."

"I hope he would be," Ryder says. “I try to be very helpful but sometimes I know I'm mean to them. Im  
Not trying, but it happens.”

"I think we all do that," Bruce says. "Sometimes we get upset and frustrated, and what matters is that we don't do it again and that we apologize for what we says wrong."

"Apologize," Ryder repeats the word quietly to himself. "I have to work on that."

Bruce smiles and reaches to ruffle Ryder's hair. "You're a good kid, Ryder, a really good kid." 

-X-

Rylee is the comforter. She's soothing and gentle and calming and she's first on the scene when either Toby or Ryder are having a fit. She reminds them to breathe slowly and deeply, and she rubs their backs soothingly. 

She benefits the most from the family sleepovers in the living room. She hates being away from her brothers, and it comforts her to be able to sleep near them. 

She is always playing with Truly, checking her if she even makes the slightest whimper, and she loves that Natasha lets her hold Truly and even help change her diaper. 

Rylee is both sweet and helpful, and she makes it her priority to listen and be obedient and remind her brothers to do the same. She's actually the oldest of the twins, and she occasionally exerts her seniority in order to convince Ryder to do something. 

She's quiet and calm and the opposite of her brothers most times. She's perfectly content with spending her days inside playing with her sisters of helping her younger brothers and th they homework. 

She's very good with computers, good enough that they've put her in an advanced computer class in her school, and she's excelling in it. 

Natasha is sitting on the couch enjoying a (rare) quiet moment with Truly while the boys are out and Rylee sits at the table working on homework. 

"I have a question," Rylee says, carrying her lime green laptop over to Natasha.

"What's your question?" Natasha asks, gently shifting Truly so that she can burp her. 

"We have to make a family tree using this new computer program," Rylee says. She shows her computer to Natasha, where a tree is indeed taking up the entirety of the screen. "And I wanna put you and Bruce on there but I don't know how."

Natasha can feel her heart beat faster at Rylee's implications. "What if you made a different type of family tree?" Natasha suggests. "That way you'd be able to include everyone that you want and it'd stand from your classmates."

Rylee glances at her computer. "Yah," she says. "I think I like that." 

 

-X-

It's the next visit that sets everyone on edge. It's Toby's birthday party, and it's at an arcade that Tony completely rented out just for his party. He's only invited three of his friends, which is major progress from the one friend he had last school year. The place is relatively empty, except for the fact that ten of the world's most powerful superheroes are sitting and eating pizza. 

With DCFS's permission, they invite Toby's mother. She shows up with a small present for Toby and she seems absolutely delighted to see her kids again. She coos over Truly , who's absolutely precious and is nearing six months old. She's growing spectacularly, and the signs of her rough beginning are beginning to fade. 

The kid's mom has been completely clean since Truly's birth, and it shows on her face. If all goes well, she could have the kids back within a year, and Natasha feels a pinch of sadness mixed with hope at the thought of that. She loves the kids, her kids, but she knows that they love their mother and they should go back to her when (if) she's ready. 

It isn't until after the party is almost over that everything goes to hell. 

Toby has been playing the same game for almost an hour and several of his guests (namely Ryder) have been wanting for a play at the game. Toby is refusing, pushing at anyone who attempts to even get close to him. But they've got to leave soon, and Natasha knows that the quicker they remove Toby from the game, the easier time they will have being able to leave the arcade in general. 

"Toby," she says, giving a quiet warning to him in general. "This is your last game." 

"No, it's not" Toby says. "I'm going to play again and again and again." 

"Toby," Natasha reasons with him, stepping a bit closer. She places a hand on his shoulder."

"Fuck off," Toby says, pushing her backwards. 

It catches Natasha off guard and she stumbles, catching her leg on the edge of another game. It hurts a bit, but she stands and tries to walk back to Toby. 

His mother is already approaching him, eyes lit with fury. "Don't you ever hit a woman again!" She says to Toby, and she hits him, on the shoulder. 

The whole words seems to pause for a moment. It's quiet enough to hear a pin drop throughout the entire arcade. 

Toby is completely silent, eyes wide with shock. 

"Oh my god," Toby's mother says. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. I-" 

Amaya is already approaching her. 

"Grace," she says quietly. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave." 

"I'm sorry," Grace says. "I just got frustrated with him, and-" 

"I still have to ask you to leave," Amaya says firmly. "I'm sorry." 

Grace's face falls. "I understand," she says quietly. She offers a very quiet goodbye to Toby, Ryder, and Rylee. "I'm sorry," she says to her kids. And then she's gone. 

-X-

It's a month after the birthday party that everything changes. The kids are back to normal mostly. 

Natasha's phone shrills on her way back from dropping the kids off at school. 

"Hello?" Natasha answers cautiously, putting the phone on speaker and then pressing the track phone call button on her car. 

"Hello," the voice on the other end says quietly. Natasha recognizes it immediately; it's Grace, the kids' mother. She sounds upset. 

There's a long pause, one where the only thing Natasha can hear is the Grace's breathing. 

"Are you going to change their names?" Grace asks. 

"What do you mean?" Natasha responds, shock and confusion coloring her voice. 

“When you adopt them," Grace continues. "Will you change their names? I mean, I guess it's your choice. I just kinda like their names and," a sob erupts on the other end. 

She said when, not if. When. "Grace," Natasha says, both hope and sorrow rising in her throat. "Grace, I don't understand." 

"I'm surrendering my parental rights," Grace says through her sobs. "I can't make my kids sit in a courtroom and watch me fall apart, and this way I get at least some say." 

"Grace," Natasha begins, struggling to find her words. 

"Don't try to convince me not to do it,"Grace says. "My kids love you, and it's very obvious that you feel the same. You guys are really good parents and they're thriving in your care. It's going to be hard for me, but I've made my choice. This is what's best for them."

Natasha doesn't have a chance to say a thing after that because Grace disconnects the call. 

-X- 

It's a rare moment of family time where everyone is home at a decent hour. The kids are playing in the swing set, Truly is resting on her play mat enjoying the setting sun, and Natasha and Bruce sit near Truly on lawn chairs sipping sherbet floats. The patio table is covered with sticky bits of ice cream. But Natasha knows that the table is not important and the table can wait until tomorrow. 

What is important is the kids, and she wonders how she's going to break the news to them. Everything has happened so suddenly that Natasha has no idea how she's going to break it to them. 

Their lives changed forever this afternoon, and they have no idea. 

Bruce places a hand on Natasha's, and they breathe in both the quietness of the dusk and the shouts and screams of the kids, their kids. They've seldom had even a moment to themselves since Toby's came, and although Natasha loves the kids and wouldn't change having them for the works, she misses he intimacy that their days used to have. 

Natasha clutches his hand and traces the lines of his palm with her thumb. "I love you," she says.

"I love you too," Bruce responds, and they sit, watching the sun set in the sky, watching their kids laugh and play, watching their family and their hearts grow.

-X-

The next six months are a flurry of activity: filling out adoption paperwork, completing an additional home study, and scheduling a court date for the official adoption. 

It's a slow process breaking the new to the kids. They tell Rylee first, and she takes the news well, although she cries for a while about it. 

"Do you think that my mom will ever get better?" Rylee asks. "Because I want her to be happy, even if that means that she can't live with me and my sister and brothers." She speaks with the tone of someone beyond her years, and Bruce's heart breaks for her. 

He strokes her hair gently. "I don't know, Rylee. I hope that she can get better." 

"My mom told me at Toby's birthday party that she really, really liked you guys," Rylee says. "I think that she would like it if we stayed with you." Rylee captures Bruce into a hug. 

"Well," Bruce says, tightening his hold on Rylee. "That's exactly what we're going to do." 

-X-

The day of the finalization is utterly nerve wracking. Their attorney, the kids social worker, the kids' court appointed advocate, and many others have assured Bruce and Natasha that it will go off without a hitch but they're still both terrified. 

The dress the kids in matching outfits.

They pile into the SUV and begin the drive across town to the courthouse. Clint, Laura, and Nick are supposed to meet them there. 

"Hopefully their last car ride as a ward of the state," Bruce whispers to Natasha as they climb into the car. 

"Hopefully," Natasha says. 

-X-

The finalization is nerve wracking and wonderful and it's over almost as soon as it began. The judge asks Natasha why she wants to adopt the kids and she answers honestly: because she loves them more than anything. Bruce cries a bit when testifying. And Ryder and Rylee's answer to being asked if they wanted to be adopted are bubbling with excitement and joy. 

The judge is grinning when he finally says, "The court finds that it is in the best interest of these children that their adoption be granted. They will now have the relationship of parent and child with Natasha Romanov Banner and Robert Bruce Banner." 

Natasha cries, actually cries, as they sign the papers officially making their kids theirs. They take a photo with the judge and then it's all over. 

Laura takes them to a nearby park so that they can get adoption photos, and the kids are buttering and bubbling with energy, and it's contagious. So many of the photos are of them laughing and playing. 

After the photos are done, Natasha suggests going to the kids' favorite restaurant for lunch. 

"I don't know," Clint says. "Maybe we should wait a bit so that we can celebrate with everyone else. Tony said he'd be done with his meeting at like 3, and I know Steve said that they'd be back from Melody's Doctor's appointment at noon. We could do dinner or something with everyone." Clint speaks a little too quickly, but Natasha doesn't think anything of it. 

"We should probably get Truly home for a nap, anyway," Bruce agrees. "She gets cranky when she doesn't get one." 

Natasha grabs Bruce's hand and looks at her kids as they run through the field towards the car. "Let's go home," she agrees. 

"Surprise!" Their friends shout in unison as Bruce, Natasha, and the kids enter the house. 

"Oh my god," Natasha says. Her living room has been transformed into Metropolis. There are decorations on every available surface in the room, and on the coffee table sits a massive three tiered, carefully decorated cake. 

 

"This is so cool!" Rylee shouts. 

"This is the best!" Ryder cheers, grinning.

"Welcome home, guys," Tony says.

Natasha looks around the living room. Everyone is there. All of her friends, her family really.

"Well," Steve says. "Let's have a celebration!"

-X-

"And then what happens?" Truly asks. She's eight now, growing like a weed with a heart of gold. She's heard this story a million times. Toby wrote and illustrated a book to be able to tell her about it. He's sixteen now, preparing to attend a college preparatory school with a graphic design program. The kids have grown and changed. Ryder and Rylee attend college now, and they both have majors that will one day allow them to help foster kids. 

"You know what happens Truly," Natasha says, poking Truly's nose. 

"But I wanna hear it again, mommy," Truly says. 

Natasha smiles, and then turns to read the last line of the book. "And the beautiful King and Queen and took their children into their arms, and told them that they would love them forever and," 

Natasha and Truly say the last part together, "They lived happily ever after."

**Author's Note:**

> Several elements, including Toby’s mom’s call to Natasha, are taken from real life experience that I’ve seen from working with foster children and foster parents. 
> 
> Anyway: questions? Concerns? Loved it? Hated it? 
> 
> Leave a comment and let me know. I thrive on those.


End file.
